Jared Polin Shirt from Riley Kaminer on Vimeo.

Photos are from Flickr  (this set).

How many times have you looked in National Geographic Magazine and said to yourself, “myself, how did they take such a beautiful picture?!” I know I have! With a nice little Google search and some good ol’ common sense, I think I have the answers for you.

• Good gear. This is probably the most important thing ever. I would say that my switch from the Canon PowerShot SD600 (point-and-shoot) to the Canon Rebel XTi (Digital SLR) made my photography 30 times better. (FYI, a point-and-shoot camera is one of those pocket-sized cameras, and a Digital SLR camera [A.K.A a DSLR] is one of those big professional black ones.) Now, it really helps to have some basic knowledge in simple DSLR stuff, but nothing you can’t learn from reading the manual (that’s what I did!). Or, I guess, you could just keep it on Full Auto mode, but why would you do that? Also, if you do go for a DSLR, the body doesn’t really make the difference, it is mostly the lens that does the work quality wise. I really don’t want to get too into it, but if you are seriously going to do the switch, consider reading this article. And my little hint of the day is that you can read hundreds and hundreds of online articles about which camera to buy, but no article is as good as just going into your LOCAL camera store and getting advice from someone there. Don’t just go the the Best Buy, please. They REALLY don’t have the best prices. If you live in the New York area or must shop online, I would go to B & H, probably my favorite place in the world.
• Don’t use the flash 100% of the time; you really don’t need to. Just try it. Also, it is really cool to take pictures of candles at night, for which you would under no circumstances use a flash.
• Use a plain, contrasting background. Who knows, you may want to Photoshop it later.
• Mix it up with levels. Sometimes go higher, sometimes go lower. Keep it interesting.
• Check your camera! Play around with the settings to maximize the awesomeness of your shot.
• Always think about the Rule of Thirds. A little hard to explain, best to read this article.
• Have fun with it! There are really no rules for photography… enjoy it!

That’s all I have for today. If you think I missed something, feel free to email me or comment below. Just a side note, I will be at camp from June 22 to July 5 with very limited computer access. I will hopefully post an episode during that time, but if you don’t hear from me, you will know why!